


I'll Set You Free

by cosima_geekmonkey_niehaus



Series: Shattered Glass [3]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 00:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3154718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosima_geekmonkey_niehaus/pseuds/cosima_geekmonkey_niehaus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shattered Glass is a multi-part story focused on the unraveling of Beth Childs. Alternate Universe, Villain!Beth. Story is out of chronological order.</p><p>This part involves Beth visiting Cosima in Minnesota to inform her that someone is killing clones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Set You Free

Cosima lay on her stomach in the middle of her apartment, sprawled out on the only patch of carpet not taken over by books and papers. Electronica music was blasting from her laptop, and the room was thick with the smell of pizza and marijuana. Cosima was squinting her eyes as she compared figures from two separate papers, doing her best to come to terms with the conflicting results. Her concentration, along with the music, drowned out the knocking on her door, and after ten minutes of no response, the door burst open, causing Cosima to spring up in fright.

"Holy shit, Beth, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Cosima said once she realized who it was and was able to catch her breath.

 

"I’ve been knocking for ten minutes," Beth snapped as she took note of the laptop vibrating from the music, walked over, and shut it with her foot, leaving them in silence.

Cosima did her best to hold back an eye roll as she sat on her bed, still on edge. “Well I wasn’t expecting anyone, I was, you know, in the zone,” she said with a wave of her hand. “What are you doing here anyway? I thought you weren’t coming until next week.”

"There’s been a change of plans," Beth said, clenching and relaxing her fists a few times as she glanced out the window.

"What do you mean, a change of plans?" Cosima said, a note of worried curiosity in her voice. "Dude, did you find another clone or something?"

"Or something," Beth said, looking back towards Cosima for a moment, but failing to make eye contact. Instead her eyes fell on an empty wine glass on Cosima’s night stand. "I could use a drink."

"Yeah, totally," Cosima agreed, and she got up and walked over to her makeshift kitchen, extracting two wine glasses from her mess of dishes before she began opening a bottle of red wine. Cosima struggled momentarily with the corkscrew before Beth suddenly grabbed the bottle from her hands.

"I’ve got it," she said, and she effortlessly twisted the opener and pulled out the cork, and poured them each a glass as Cosima shrugged and turned to rummage through her mini-fridge for a snack.

"I don’t really have anything to eat," she said as Beth finished pouring and handed Cosima her glass. "I mean I’m guessing that you wouldn’t be up for eating whipped cream out of the can." Cosima giggled to herself, but Beth’s face remained stoic, so the laughter quickly dissipated. Cosima took a sip of her wine as she searched for something to say, and decided to just cut to the chase. "So why are you here Beth?"

"Someone is after us," Beth said, her tone oddly detached. “Someone is killing clones.”

Cosima choked on her wine, her eyes wide with fear. “Fuck, are you serious?”, she coughed as she set down the wine glass on the counter.

Beth took a sip of her wine, her face still void of emotion. “I spoke to Katja yesterday. She said that two European clones have been killed. Aryanna and Janika. And Danielle thinks she is being followed. Somebody wants us all dead.”

Cosima closed her eyes and sat on the bed, one hand on her head as she tried to clear the haze of marijuana out of her mind in order to grasp the reality of the information. “I mean it could just be a coincidence, right. Like they both could’ve just died, you know. Maybe one of them was sick, like you said Katja is, and they just didn’t tell her. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions here.”

“They were murdered.” Beth said, a strange fire blazing behind her eyes. “Shot in the head. Both of them. Apparently a sniper of some sort. It was definitely not an accident.”

“Dude,” Cosima said, exhaling deeply. After a moment of silence, she looked at Beth. “Okay so what’s the plan?”

Beth intently paced back and forth across the room. “We have to figure out who wants us dead and why.” She stopped and looked at Cosima. “Do you have your clone file on hand?”

“Yeah, one sec,” Cosima slipped off the bed, padding over to the bookshelf and grabbing a black zippered folio from behind a bust, and brought it over to her desk, gesturing to Beth. “You think something in here will help? It’s mostly just information on cloning.” Cosima opened up the folio, examining a chart she had made up of all the clones Beth had found. Her eyes lingered on the faces of Aryanna and Janika.

“So here’s everything I have on all of us. I’m not sure what you’re thinking could help…”, Cosima’s voice trailed off as she became absorbed in the information before her. But before she could say anything else, she felt a sharp wire dig into her throat, cutting off her ability to breath. Beth pressed into her back, increasing the pressure on Cosima’s windpipe.

“Beth-” Cosima gasped, clawing fruitlessly at the wire.

“I wouldn’t try to talk if I were you,” Beth said calmly. “It’ll only make it hurt more.”

Cosima knocked papers off her desk as she struggled, throwing her arms and legs wildly in every direction in hopes of breaking free. Beth tightened her grip, the garrote drawing blood as it sliced Cosima’s skin.

“Now I know you won’t believe me,” Beth said softly into Cosima’s ear, “but this is for the best, Cosima. After all, if I’m not the one to kill you, someone else will.”

Cosima grabbed at Beth, desperately trying to get a grip on her hair, clothes, anything that might help her break free. Beth simply responded with more force, pulling Cosima in tighter and increasing the pressure to her throat.

“There’s no way out of this, Cosima,” she snarled, relishing the struggle. “But trust me, I am doing you a favor. We aren’t just part of some cool science project. This is bigger than that. Bigger than us. You couldn’t handle knowing everything. I’m saving you from this.”

Cosima’s body began to go limp, the lack of oxygen sapping the strength from her muscles. Her knees gave way as Beth supported her weight, guiding her to the floor while maintaining a firm grip on the handles of the garrote.

“Shh, it’s almost over,” Beth cooed, as if expressing a motherly concern rather than murderous intent. “Your life wasn’t yours to live anyway. I’m setting you free, Cosima.”

Beth watched as Cosima’s eyes grew wide with the final flashes of life, all signs of fight and panic ceasing as she let out her final cracking gasp before finally going completely limp on her lap. She remained still for a moment, staring into the familiar brown eyes, now glassy and devoid of their usual warmth, her own reflection staring back at her from Cosima’s glasses, crooked on her face from the struggle.

Beth straightened the glasses, and laid Cosima’s head gently on the ground before standing up. She wiped the blood?? on the garrote off on a nearby hand towel, and placed it safely back in her pocket. She then stepped over the body and gathered up the contents of the folio, safely zipping it up and placing it under her arm. After a final glance at the apartment, Beth took a satisfied breath, and locked the door as she left the apartment. One more loose end tied up. One step closer to her goal.


End file.
